Pieter II
Pieter II (Pieter Johan Anthony Van Draak; 11 March 1860 – 23 October 1913) was King of Brunant from 22 November 1881 until his death in 1913. Johan was the youngest-ever monarch to ascend the throne. He was the firstborn son of Johan I and Caroline Amelie of Schleswig-Holstein, and served in the Royal Guard from 1881 until he overthrew his father in the Liberal Revolution. During his reign, Brunant quickly transitioned into a democratic constitutional monarchy. While all of this happened, the national economy was growing due to the rapidly rising automobile industry and various other factors. However, in 1913 Pieter was assassinated, and is the only Brunanter monarch in history to have suffered this fate. Biography Early life Pieter II was born in 1860 at the Realpaleis in Koningstad to Johan I and Caroline of Schleswig-Holstein. His godparents included (by then deposed) King Rubeus II of Libertas and Queen Charlotte Van Neyt, the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Lovisa-Sophie Danneskjold-Samsøe. Education and military career Pieter was sent to the Netherlands to be privately educated by tutors in Amsterdam and later studied English in London during his adolescence, where he picked up liberal ideas. In 1879 he returned to Brunant; he quickly became a major critic of his father's ultra-Conservative ideals, while his father criticized him for being an anarchist and a supporter of Marxism. In 1879 he joined the Royal Guard as a cadet and became a lieutenant in 1880. In 1879, he was engaged to Sophie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the couple were married in August 1880. King Johan did not attend the ceremony. Liberal Revolution In early 1881, Johan dissolved Congress after multiple disputes erupted between them and Johan, and ordered the Royal Guard to arrest Prince Pieter and his rebellious President, Pieter Van Neyt. The prince was able to turn much the guard against his father with the help of his brother, Eugen. Though his uncle Fabian managed to rally troops to Johan's side, the Liberal forces succeded in deposing Johan in order to begin an era of complete liberalization. Reign 1881 proved to be a momentous year for Pieter; after having deposed his father he was declared king and was crowned, alongside Sophie, at St. Peter's Church on May 19.Brunanter kings since King Ambroos I have been crowned at St. Peter's.. In October 11, the couple gave birth to a son, Prince Johan. Despite being head of the Royal Guard, Pieter II was not a militaristic man and cared little for war or the military. He was instead an able politician and an outspoken supporter of the Liberal Party. Pieter carried out several reforms, such as making the President an elected official, as well as mandating the same for municipal leaders (ie. mayors) in 1887. There was much opposition to this from among both conservative and anarchists elements in society. Pieter would be most at odds with Joseph Greene; an outspoken supporter of his father and his potential return, he was elected president in 1888 and led to much animosity between the two. That year, he was the subject of an attempted assassination at the hands of Anthony Lesnisch. The discovery of a plot in June 1891 to depose the king and bring back his father was discovered, and Pieter hastily sent in the military to arrest rebellious generals, confront mutinous troops and arrest Greene among other rightist politicians. He later had republicans, even leftist ones arrested, despite the misgivings of his president, Pieter Van Neyt. Further political reform in 1902 saw the post of Prime Minister established. He steadfastly supported his first prime minister, Stefanus Varne, but when his government was collapsing in congress in 1904, he initially refused to dissolve it. In 1908 Willem Van Allen, another Liberal, was made Prime Minister, but Van Allen held many republican sentiments. Fearing a potential coup on his part, Pieter forced him to resign in 1911 with the threat of arrest on sedition charges. In 1910 Pieter purchased a Delaunay-Belleville and became the first Brunanter king to own a car. Later life and death In 1911 he acquired pneumonia and a went through a fever, though he managed to recuperate relatively well. In 1913 he planned to institute reforms to tax the nobility and reduce the pensions among royalty to cut costs withing government. There was a sizable opposition, coming mostly from nobles and other conservatives. These actions quickly led to a plot to replace the king with someone more likely to support their cause. On October 23, the Royal Family was riding in an open coach through Brezonde when an onlooker, Jean-Paul Marois pulled out a gun and fired several shots at the king, the crown prince, Princess Martina Louisa and Prince FrederickMarois was quickly apprehended and he was shot and killed trying to escape from the police.. The princess was unharmed but Pieter, Johan and Frederick had been hit. They were taken to a nearby house to be treated, but both Pieter and Frederick were not likely to survive, with the king having been shot twice in the chesthis bloodied shirt and jacket are still in the possession of the family who's house was used to care for him. The king died on August 23, 1913 at the age of 53. His son died three days later. Pieter was succeeded by Johan II. Pieter is presently the only Brunanter monarch to have been assassinated. He was awarded the Order of Valdemar of Strasland in 1885. Family Sophie and Pieter had met in Berlin in 1879 during a visit and were married in 1880. After their marriage, the young couple moved to Brunant and settled down in a townhouse in Dortmund.Since Johan I disowned his son, he was not allowed to reside in the Realpaleis After their coronation the couple moved in to the Realpaleis. Johan and Sophie had six children: *Prince Johan (1881-1967) *Princess Caroline (1882-1905) *Prince Louis (1884-1931) *Prince Hendrik (1886-1956) *Princess Martina Louisa (1891-1981) *Prince Frederick (1893-1913) Compared to his predecessors, the family lived in relative modesty, almost always occupying a small number of rooms at the Realpaleis. Throughout his life, he only ever had one mistress, Eliza van Heerde (1880-1955), who was a companion of his in the late 1890s and 1900s. It was rumored that her daughter Silvia (1904-1989) was a daughter of Pieter, but by then, the two were in an on/off relationship and she had other partners as well. Though they broke apart after 1905, Pieter paid an annual stipend to Eliza, which was stopped after his death. Ancestry See also *Johan II *October Plot *Liberal Revolution Notes Category:Dead people Category:1860 births Category:Monarchs Category:Liberal Revolution Category:Princes Category:Dukes of Middleton Category:Royal Guard personnel